On Monday morning I got down to some artwork with Granny while Mom and Dad snoozed a little late. Once I was tired of doing art, Granny and I did a game of I-Spy from the balcony. Everything Granny spied I got right, starting with Table Mountain right down to kites on the beach and cars on the road. Lastly, Granny started the three cup guessing game with me, whereby she put a ladybird under one of three cups, shuffled them and asked me to guess where the beetle was. Surprisingly enough I got found the beetle every time.

After Mom and Dad were up we headed off to Small Bay, and from there we walked (I rode) to Big Bay. At Big Bay we popped into the Vida e Caffe for some breakfast. Dad and I ate giant chocolate muffins, which we relished. After breakfast we did a little bit of shopping and then headed back to Big Bay.

We played on the beach at Big Bay, loving the view of The Mountain. To my surprise the track that Granny built for me the day before was still there. She was truly a superb road engineer! Mom, Dad and I went for a nice long stroll along the beach, and pretty soon Dad and I were skipping stones on in the surf.

Mom and Granny decided to go look for sea shells for me to make a necklace on the plane on the way home. Once enough shells we’re found it was time to go home – we’d been on the beach for more than four hours by now, and the heat was beginning to become unbearable.

We had a snooze back at our apartment and then in the afternoon we headed to Linda’s place to swim with the girls and say our final farewells. It was really awesome swimming with Genna and Erin, and afterwards we all had dinner together. Lorraine and Great Uncle Alex joined us for dinner and our sad farewells.

In the car on the way home Granny decided to teach me some local vernacular, as she grew up in Cape Town, and knew lots of these. I got it right after a few attempts. Mom, Dad and Granny were crying with laughter.

Back at our apartment we started the sad task of packing, and I helped Dad check-in online. The hotel reception printed our boarding passes for us.

Tuesday morning we headed to the beach very early, and sadly, for the last time. At Big Bay we popped into Vida e Caffe for breakfast and then our last walk on the beach and to say goodbye to the sea and The Mountain.

At our apartment we got ready for our trip back home. As Dad was getting into the shower I told him that he looked like Moto Moto from Madagascar – I think it’s spurred him to diet, a little! Dad then got the job of packing our micro-compact rental. We decided going back to the airport that we’d put all the luggage on the front passenger seat, and Mom, Granny and I sat on the back seat.

Before driving off Dad had to kick the cases against the passenger door so that he could change gears! Mom, from the backseat, acted as his eyes to the left, as Dad had the biggest blind spot imaginable.

We pulled into the rental returns lane, and fortunately two porters were on hand to wheel all our luggage to the departures lounge. There we wrapped our cases and my baby-seat in plastic so it wouldn’t get damaged en route.

As we were early for our flight we opted to have lunch in the Premier Lounge, which is always a treat for me. Everything there is free, and it has the best views of the aircraft taking off and landing. I tucked into salad and sandwiches while we watched the planes.

Boarding was uneventful and I snoozed for the entire flight back to Jo’burg.

We collected our car from the valet parking where it got polished and cleaned, inside and out. It looked like a new car; Dad was thrilled. On the drive from the airport, we all decided to go out for dinner before going home; it would be our end-of-holiday-dinner. We decided to go to Primi Piatti at Lifestyle Centre. Unfortunately the afternoon traffic was heavy, so it took almost an hour to get there. It was the first time in at least four weeks that we’d experienced any traffic.

Primi Piatti was a treat – I was the last kid playing on the jungle gyms when we left. Back at home we greeted our cats, and I looked for Roxy, before remembering that our house sitters, Richard and Leonie, had kennelled her because of the violent thunderstorms that frightened her and caused her to escape.

Wednesday morning was a big day for me. I was starting school! Mom had chosen Fastrack Kids Sandton as my school, and although I was anxious I was also excited and curious. Mom, Dad and Granny took me to school. The school looked really nice, and I shared my class with four other learners. I was thrilled to see a smart board on wall and immediately referred to it as ‘the big iPad’.

I settled down easily, playing with my new friends, but every now and then I needed Mom, because of my separation anxiety from the trauma I experienced. Owing to this, Mom hung about in the car park, and if teacher Sasha needed some help, Mom would be there immediately. I only started participating and feeling comfortable when the drawing exercises started.

In the afternoon, when Mom collected me just after noon, I couldn’t wait to show her how to use the smart board. I even did my happy dance out of excitement. Back home I reintroduced myself to all my toys which I’d not seen for the past two weeks while we were on holiday.

Thursday morning Dad was gloomy as he had to go back to work. I commiserated with him, as I had to go back to school too. It was a bit of a better day for me at school, with slightly less crying. In the evening we went to Uncle Garth’s place to celebrate Ryan and Tamsin’s birthday. It was a nice evening, but because it was a school night, we left before dinner.

On Friday I was back at school, and for some reason it was a tougher day for me than the previous day – I really missed and needed Mommy, and spent a good deal of time crying. But pretty soon it was all over and I was back home again. In the afternoon Dad and I went to have our hair cut; it was a little stressful, but I made it. At home I rushed into the house to show Mom and Granny my new haircut.

Saturday and Sunday were quiet days; I spent the mornings with Granny, who was still staying with us while Aunty Kim finished some renovations at her house. I played outside and rode my little pushbike around the garden.

Sunday evening, as I was bouncing into the study on Rody to get ready to write my blog, I fell and hit my head on the subwoofer in the study. This resulted in a large gash in my head. Mom and Dad immediately went to DefCon Red, mobilised, and within a few minutes the wound was temporarily dressed and we were en route to triage at Morningside Medi Clinic.

At Morningside Medi Clinic, once the medical aid card was presented and paper work was done I was taken into the triage ward. There a really awesome nurse and doctor, who turned out to be a plastic surgeon, attended to me. The hair around the gash was shaved, and the doctor cleaned the wound thoroughly. Fortunately stiches weren’t needed as steri-strips would suffice. Mom and Dad were so proud of me as I was very brave throughout the small procedure. Once or twice it stung a little but I managed to bear the pain.

We were back home about two hours later, and despite it being really late, and Mom and Dad insisting I go to bed, I didn’t want to let my fans down and wrote tonight’s blog.

Before I end off tonight, it’s newsworthy to note that on Wednesday a number of global English webpages went black to protest PIPA (PROTECT IP Act) and SOPA (Stop Online Privacy Act). These included Wikipedia, Google, WordPress and countless others. Below are screenshots of these webpages during their blackouts.

Til next week!

Hugs

Jarrod

Photo 1 The view from our lounge

Photo 2 Ready to roll

Photo 3 Riding to Big Bay

Photo 4 Giant chocolate muffin

Photo 5 Cheers’ing Dad with a muffin

Photo 6 Riding at Big Bay

Photo 7 Yay! Beach!

Photo 8 Dismount on the beach

Photo 9 My favourite mountain

Photo 10 Swimming with Genna and Erin


Photo 11 Happiness

Photo 12 Woot! Two new Lily & Jack bunnies from Linda

Photo 13 Working for my dinner at Linda’s place

Photo 14 Dad and I on our last day of holiday

Photo 15 Heading to beach to say ‘goodbye’

Photo 16 Dad skipping stones

Photo 17 On the shoreline

Photo 18 Playing

Photo 19 Exploring

Photo 20 Dune rolling

Photo 21 Dune digging

Photo 22 Goodbye sea, see you soon

Photo 23 Dressed for the flight home

Photo 24 Arriving at school

Photo 25 Playing in my classroom

Photo 26 My fellow learners

Photo 27 The big iPad

Photo 28 Getting ready to help Tamsin and Ryan blow out their birthday candles

Photo 29 And blow!

Photo 30 And eat!

Photo 31 Some family

Photo 32 Snoozing

Photo 33 My published blog (and 15kg extra luggage flying home from Cape Town)

Photo 34 Dad and I reading about me

Photo 35 Teacher’s report

Photo 36 Some more good feedback

Photo 37 Being a regular at Morningside Medi Clinic I decided to disguise myself with sunglasses

Photo 38 Waiting in triage, feeling pretty happy

Photo 39 My wound being cleaned

Photo 40 Being examined

Photo 41 Wound dressed – ready to go home!

The blackouts:

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